Vintage Air System Problem

[gag1025]

We started installing the Vintage Air unit on my '53 Chevy truck today. We found that the bottom of the vent piece is about 1/" from the right AC vent. There is not enough room to attach the two flex hoses. If we turn the vent hose around it will hit and interfere with the wiper arm. Has anyone else run into this same problem? If so how did you correct it. If the vent had an L that would solve the problem.

[solidaxel]

Had the same problem with my V A and my 53!
My solution was to lower the evap., at this point it is only 2 more holes in a fresh painted no hole firewall!!

Good Luck!

[coralhead]

I used my original defrost vents and made an sleave to make the vent pipe fit the ID of the hose. The originals have a tighter /snug fit than the plastic vents supplied. It is still a tight fit but works.

[54restorod]

Thanks for the tips, good info to keep in mind.

[solidaxel]

Originally Posted by coralhead

I used my original defrost vents and made an sleave to make the vent pipe fit the ID of the hose. The originals have a tighter /snug fit than the plastic vents supplied. It is still a tight fit but works.

Yes I used the originals also

[gag1025]

We have a couple of ideas we are going to explore next sat. I am having my right knee scoped tomorrow morning and will not get back to the truck until next Sat. I had the left one done 25 years ago. Someone asked me if it was from playing football, basketball and baseball (catcher) through high scholl and college. My answer was that it probably came from helping my uncle who was a roofer (I was a go for-go for this and go for that) for 6 or 7 summers after college working part time. It came from climbing up and down an extension ladder with a couple of bundles of shingles slung over my shoulders. Remember back in the day we did not have lift trucks and conveyor systems. The only way up and down was that ladder. I will let you guys know about our experiments only if they work. Otherwise I will use the original vents.

[gag1025]

BTW, did any of you call Vintage Air to see if they had a solution or another vent pipe that had the hose attachment coming out the side. That would have solved all the problems.

[Donaldo]

Inside I welded a piece of 1/8"x1" flat stock across the two diagonal insulation spacers? on either side of the firewall bump, with a 5/16" stud to attach a hanger for the Vintage Air unit, I was able to move it over and lower the center so the heater air will flow more evenly and both the a/c and the heater plumbing are easy to access and now have room for the complete glove box liner. I took the list advice and will join the vent drain through the a/c drain to the outside. No additional holes in the firewall. And it will all be accessable through the dash until the speaker grill and glove box are installed last.

I didn't like the hangers the unit came with so they are now 1/8"x1" 304L SS.

[_Ogre]

cut the vent mid point of the 45* bend into two 22.5* pieces
rotate the bottom piece until it is straight down and super glue the 2 pieces together
drill a couple of small holes on both sides of the glue seam
use a couple of small wire ties to stitch the joint for reinforcement

[OrrieG]

Attaching your hoses on the defrost vents before installing helps too, at least it did on my TF.

[gag1025]

Donaldo, we screwed in (4 screws) a piece of flat steel to the same two firewall interior pieces you used. It is a piece of channel. We did it because the firewall bolt mentioned in the instructions was not on my truck and we did not want to put a hole for a bolt through the firewall. We attached a 1/4" bolt through this piece of flat steel and attached the condensor to this bolt. If I can leave it in the position it is suppose to be in I would like to leave it there because I want to hide it as much as possible. I like your idea because it allows you to use the glove box. I will probably modify my glove box to a short one and still have an area to put my sun glasses. Thanks for sharing your information with me. I may call Vintage Air Tuesday to see if they have heard this problem before and what they plan on doing about it. I still say if they had a defrost vent with an L shape it would solve a lot of problems. But of course they probably do not care what any of us think.

[oldman3]

gag1025, don't want to hijack your thread, I changed the location on the heat outlet, because the console wouldn't let out the heat. I used PVC piping and glue to change mine, it's been in the truck for 5 years and no problems. Here's some pics showing what I did...Jim

[Donaldo]

[QUOTE=gag1025;6492199]Donaldo, we screwed in (4 screws) a piece of flat steel to the same two firewall interior pieces you used. It is a piece of channel. We did it because the firewall bolt mentioned in the instructions was not on my truck and we did not want to put a hole for a bolt through the firewall. We attached a 1/4" bolt through this piece of flat steel and attached the condensor to this bolt. If I can leave it in the position it is suppose to be in I would like to leave it there because I want to hide it as much as possible. I like your idea because it allows you to use the glove box. I will probably modify my glove box to a short one and still have an area to put my sun glasses. Thanks for sharing your information with me.


Hi, lowering and moving the VA unit didn't seem like it stuck out visually as much as the original '51 heater did - it's just centered more to keep my feet warm, and plenty of room for the ducting - one outlet at each end of the dash and a double in the center - all the controls have been moved up into the roll below the speaker panel between the ingition switch and the cig lighter outlet. It all seemed to fit nicely in mockup, all apart right now. Pics when I can figure out how to post them.

Don

[lazypineapple]

VA has some different Defrost vent. i used some that the duct hose connection was offset
instead of centered

[gag1025]

Oldman3, you can hijack my threads any time you would like. I appreciate the information. The more information I get the more my options become. Your modification is a great idea. I like what you did. Like you sometimes we have to modify after market parts because for some reason they don't seem to fit. We had to modify the part of the windshield wiper that sticks through the front of the windshield because when we put the gasket on and screwed down the chrome cover there was a gap between the gasket and the cover. We measured (with a micrometer) the original parts and the after market parts and they were different. We had to use JB Steel to build up the front of the part that was inside the cab that the arms attached to. Plus we had to bend the arms to make them opperate smoother. Why these manufacturers cannot make parts like the original is beyond me. After all they chatge an arm and a leg for them. We could at least expect to get what we pay for. Thanks for the pictures. They are great.

[gag1025]

Don, I like your centering idea. We are going to move it over to see how it fits. How far over did you move it. Can I move it over without lowering it? How much lower is it than the original position? Can you send some photos? That would be great if you could.

[gag1025]

Lazypineapple, are you saying that I can call them and they will send me different shaped vents?

[gag1025]

Another dumb question. Mine has foam rubber in the outlets. Is that there for shipping purposes or is it some type of filter? My guess is that I need to remove it because it sure will restrict air flow.

[Donaldo]

Can you send some photos? That would be great if you could.

Don't know why but when I try to attach a pic I get an "error on page" notice - and then it jumps back to the previous read...

[gag1025]

Did you use the attachment function (paper clip) to add photos. If you don't know the insert image icon (envelope) will only work if you are uploading an image from another sourse such as a magazine. If not that is what you use. If you did, the photo itself may be to large to upload. Just guessing because I don't really know.if you know all of this please excuse my acting like I know everything.

[Donaldo]

Still get the "error on page" message, probably my computer, it's getting older...too.

[lazypineapple]

Yup call em. YOu can also see them in their inline catalog.

Originally Posted by gag1025

Lazypineapple, are you saying that I can call them and they will send me different shaped vents?

[_Ogre]

my experience with vintage air tech support:::
i need different hose ends and hard pipe for my hybrid system
i called to order the new parts and said i would send the old ones back
rob (i believe he's the owner) shipped them that day at no charge
with just the promise i would send him the old parts.

vintage air is aok in my book


i had to do something similar to what oldman did to get heat to the other side of my console.
i didn't modify the ac unit but added duct thru the console for the floor heat
i made a fiberglass fascia to lower the front of the dash 4'' just to hide the ac unit

[OrrieG]

Not as complex, but here were my solutions. Did not like the stock plastic under dash louvers to removed the front and flipped them towards the top. Added my own polished aluminum/black metallic grille. Installed the side ones in the kick panel with 09 Mustang louvers. Defront vents were not an issue.

[_Ogre]

hidden meaning in this one orrieg???